Familiengruft – Ein Liebesgedicht an meine Mutter

Maria Lang calls this montage of old family photos and new film footage “a love letter to my mother”. Her autobiographical narration is a description of family relationships that are relatively typical of life in a post-war, lower middle class, small town in Germany – with a domineering father and a mother who patiently ministers to everyone. A later attempt to break through her silence misses the mark. A loaf of sweetened bread becomes a symbol of life-long muteness. “The tears flowed inward.”